In its latest data release, the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board (GMREB) announced that the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) saw noticeable growth in its residential real estate sales in the first quarter of the year.

The report, which culled data from the real estate broker industry’s provincial database Centris®, revealed that the Montreal CMA is currently benefiting from a strong upward trend as it saw a 6 per cent year-over-year increase (up to 11,138 transactions) in Q1 2017.

This marked as the region’s best Q1 sales result in five years, as well as the 11th consecutive quarterly increase in sales.

In the same time frame, the median price of single-family properties increased by 5 per cent (up to $300,000), while the value of condominium rose by 4 per cent (up to $240,000).

“High-end properties remained in demand at the start of the year in the Montreal CMA, as sales of properties at $500,000 or more jumped by 22 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2016,” GMREB board of directors president Daniel Dagenais stated. “This market segment has performed better than the overall market for the past 11 quarters.”

On the flip side, supply volume declined fell for the 6th consecutive quarter as the number of active listings declined by 13 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter, down to 29,629 properties for sale.

Available single-family homes and plexes fell by 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, while condominiums decreased by 8 per cent.